Ex-England ace Danny Cipriani stakes a claim to be first choice fly-half

Danny Cipriani is hoping his Heineken Cup heroics can finally hand him the keys to number 10 at Sale Sharks. In tandem with his Barton colleagues, England’s poster boy, who arrived in Manchester amidst a huge fanfare in the summer, had endured a torrid first six weeks to the new Premiership campaign.

Danny Cipriani is hoping his Heineken Cup heroics can finally hand him the keys to number 10 at Sale Sharks. In tandem with his Barton colleagues, England’s poster boy, who arrived in Manchester amidst a huge fanfare in the summer, had endured a torrid first six weeks to the new Premiership campaign.

While the Sharks were slumping to the bottom of the table after a catastrophic run of six straight defeats, the 24-year-old fly-half was boomeranging in and out of the side and had largely been absent from view over the past few weeks with illness dogging his progress.

For his critics – and there are a number whom one suspects are almost willing the playmaker to fail – it was manna from heaven. ‘Too fragile’, said some, ‘too much of an individual’, was the sneer from others.

But just when Sale needed him most, Cipriani rose Lazarus-like from the replacements bench at Barton on Sunday to help inspire Bryan Redpath’s struggling side to an incredible comeback from 27-12 down against Cardiff to secure a momentous 34-33 European triumph.

In front of a delirious crowd, not to mention a spellbound audience watching on TV, Cipriani was a revelation when he replaced Nick Macleod, scoring one superb try, making another and reminding everyone that he is capable of doing things on a rugby field beyond the ken of most other players.

Now, the former Wasps and Melbourne Rebels star is eager to kick on and Cipriani made it crystal clear he is desperate to be awarded a starting place rather than settling for a place on the bench.

“Hopefully I put my hand up on Sunday. When I came off the bench at Bath a few weeks ago I tried to make an impact and things went alright then, and Sunday went alright too, so it’s up to the coach now,” declared Cipriani.

“I want to start and obviously every number 10 wants to start. In saying that, I’m not taking anything away from Nick as he’s been a long servant of the club and is a great player in his own right. He wants to get that number 10 jersey as much as anyone.

“And if you have got two number 10s really going for it and vying to start, then that is only better for the team as a whole.

“Every player wants to have game time, I’ve just got to fit into what the coach wants and needs.

“For me, I’ve just got to keep working as hard as I can and, hopefully, I will get a start next week in Montpellier.”

The key to Cipriani’s wonder show was the intelligence he showed in demonstrating how a fly-half can run a game.

Unfazed by the desperate scenario he stepped into, Cipriani offered his colleagues the time and space to flourish, showing just why Sale chief executive Steve Diamond fought tooth and nail to persuade him to return from playing in Australia this summer.

And as he savoured victory, Cipriani said the club’s landmark first win of the season demonstrated why the head must rule the heart from now on.

“It was definitely one of my most enjoyable performances in a long while and all the better after six defeats,” Cipriani admitted.

“Looking at our season so far, I don’t think the results have been a lie, but we are so much better than we have shown.

“You look at our team and there’s too many good players for us to keep losing the way we were.

“In some games we weren’t really showing how good we can be or the things we have been taught, but on Sunday the team used their heads and now we need to keep moving forward and look to pick up some more wins.

“It’s about us as a team becoming more students of the game and understanding what to do in certain positions and not playing by numbers, and that’s definitely what we showed on Sunday.

“People were using their heads as well as their brawn. Key players stepped up in the right positions and did really well.

“I’m new into the team and we have new coaches here too and we’re still learning, but if you look at the quality in the team, it’s so frustrating when you do look at six defeats.

Amid the relief and raucous response to what was arguably the match of the season so far, Cipriani sounded a warning to his colleagues and the Sharks fans that the club’s league position – Sale are currently eight points adrift of nearest strugglers London Irish – remains precarious.

But the England international said the confidence taken from overcoming their Welsh rivals should serve as the ideal launch pad to finally kick-start the Sharks’ season.

“We don’t want to get too carried away with the win, but we’re hoping it gives us a kick-start and that we can really move on from here now,” Cipriani added.

“Hopefully this will get the ball rolling and we can take confidence from it and show what we can do.

“That Cardiff team had a fair few British Lions in the team.

“It’s been frustrating for the players and I’m sure it’s been frustrating for the fans to watch and they haven’t had too much to cheer about.

“But they got right behind us on Sunday when things were going well and we gave them something to cheer about.

“There were a lot of positives for us throughout. I thought Richie Vernon had a great game at six and obviously Andy Powell kept thundering through as per usual.

“I think we also saw more of Richie Gray, but all the boys really stepped it up and I thought the forwards gave us some front foot which was key.”